An Ohio Democrat is taking the idea of running away from the unpopular Joe Biden to a whole new level.
In a virtual town hall Tuesday, Ohio Democrat David Esrati accused the president of corruption and called his son Hunter Biden a “drug fiend.”
“I know I’m a Democrat and all, but do you want to tell me what Joe Biden has done since he was elected when he was 27?” said Esrati, the Democratic candidate for Ohio’s 10th Congressional District. “How does he own all those houses? How is he worth what he’s worth? I mean, yeah, a book deal here or there, but no, there’s something wrong with going in and serving your country and to become a multimillionaire.
Vulnerable Democratic House and Senate candidates across the country have distanced themselves from the president ahead of the midterm elections, portraying themselves to voters as independent, bipartisan politicians who are not afraid to challenge Biden on politics. But of the Democratic congressional candidates’ criticism of Biden this cycle, Esrat’s fiery rebuke is unprecedented in its hostility.
Esrati, who made the comments during a live broadcast in which he responded to chat messages, suggested that Biden became wealthy through inside knowledge that he was once successful in stock trading.
“We need to fix this,” Esrat said, “and at least say, ‘No, you can’t trade. You cannot give trading advice to anyone. And if you get caught, you’ll go to jail. ‘”
The candidate went after Biden’s son after one viewer suggested the president got rich from “blackmail from Hunter’s dirty deals.”
“Hunter is not smart enough to make deals to make that kind of money,” Esrati said. “He had the houses before, when Hunter was still a regular old drug fiend.”
Esrati is a longshot for the Southwest Ohio District, which Five thirty eight “Solid Republican” norms.
Ohio Democratic Senate candidate Tim Ryan has also worked to distance his campaign from the Biden administration while taking a more subtle path. A spokeswoman for Ryan told Washington Post The campaign has no plans to invite Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris to the event.
Among state Democrats who have criticized Biden, Sen. Maggie Hassan (D., NH) has been prolific in attacking the president’s policies. The senator has vowed to stand up to the Biden administration on border security, criticized Biden’s plan to forgive student debt and criticized the president for his disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.
